Thursday, March 10, 2016

Reunited...

So, I got the Toyota back. Looks pretty good, too...

Also got the final tally on the damage: $6,300. Yeah. While the initial damage didn't look too bad, apparently once the body shop took the old hatch off (they replaced with a new one rather than try to hammer the dent out) and started digging into it, the damage was far more extensive than it looked on the outside. Of course, I had an inkling that was the case, which is why I didn't drive the car after the wreck except for the appraisal...And when I dropped the RAV4 off at the shop to be fixed, a pile of plastic parts fell out of the bumper...

Next step is trying to recover my losses. There's the deductible, for starters. $500 out of my pocket to get the car fixed in a reasonable time period. Medical bills and lost wages are next, and then what I hear is the hardest loss to recover: diminished value. My car will be worth less when I trade it in or sell it because it has been in an accident; depending on how long I hold onto it, it could be a significant amount of money. Where the 'Yota is only 6 months old, this might be worth pursuing.Of course, if my back doesn't stop hurting that might be a moot point...

My dad was an autobody man for most of his life. Always had his own shops, sometimes while he ran dealership shops. Started about 1945, when they were considered to be metal workers. One of the most important rules he figured out, was to NOT remove damaged parts first. His idea was to REVERSE THE DAMAGE until the body/frame was straight, and only then to remove any parts that were going to be replaced instead of fixed. He said that although it looks like more work, and may appear to be progressing slowly, the end result is better looking, and the job is less frustrating. It doesn't take any longer, and can be quicker, because you spend a lot less time trying to match up body lines and parts late in the job. That's the key to a better result. If you do all the pulling and jacking while all the original parts are still connected, then things are properly aligned if replacement parts are needed.There is an amazing amount of tension stored in those bent parts, which can be seen when you unbolt things at the start of a job. Lots of times you can't put that bad part back on you just unbolted, due to various parts un-springing. I suspect this is what got his attention, and made him think about the process involved.

He realized the situation was so important to the end result, that after his revelation, he refused to take vehicles that had been stripped like this at other shops. Wouldn't touch them, even when they were good deals, because of the aggravation involved.

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